Page 5 - AMA Winter 2023/24

CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD
APete Davis
warm and slightly belated Happy
New Year to you all. I wish that
2024 is a fulfilling and prosperous year for all of our members past and present, both professionally and in moun- taineering and skiing.
We are living in turbulent times; some might ask “haven’t we always?” but there is no doubt that current conflicts in both Europe and in the Middle East mean that the ground beneath us often feels shaky. The UK armed forces may not appear to be directly involved in either of the headline conflicts, but there is no doubt whatsoever that the indirect costs associated with protecting our national interests or the direct costs associated with supporting Ukraine for instance, have taken their toll on the Army’s coffers. As a result, sweeping In Year Savings have been imposed, and this has led to many adventurous training activities being axed. This has impacted the scope and number of the meets that we are able to offer. We fervently hope that things will brighten up after the end of this financial year, but in the meantime meets that were planned for rock climbing, ice climbing and ski mountaineering over the next few months have been sadly cancelled. I am very sorry that some of you have already put considerable effort into planning for these expeditions, to then have the rug pulled from beneath your feet.
The winter meet in Glencoe is a happy exception and this is sold-out. That is great to see! Our meets are in many ways the life blood of the AMA, and the winter meet as an example in particular offers you the chance to gain experience and to accrue Quality Mountain Days in UK winter moun- taineering. Once again Chris Dowd has assembled a Tier One group of mountain professionals to provide both guiding and instruction to the attendees. Some of you will be taking your first steps in the world of winter mountaineering – and you will do
so under the guise of a professional. For others this is a chance to climb on-duty with comrades from the Army, and to achieve personal mountaineering ambitions. I really want to emphasise this; in attending a meet, you are not obliged to climb with a guide or instructor. The Safety Management System embraces the concept of ‘climbing as equals’ and that is exactly what we are about. Indeed, this sets us apart perhaps from simply being another arm of the Joint Services Mountain Training Centre. We do offer initiation and instruction but we also facilitate you being able to practice your sport with comrades at a level commensu- rate with your ability and experience. To an extent I feel that we have lost sight of this. The pandemic wilderness years didn’t help because so much Service mountaineering activity was curtailed leading to a lack of currency, but the constant mantra of ‘risk management,’ ‘ALARP’ and ‘safe systems’ have, I fear, led to a state of us being more comfortable climbing at the bottom end of a rope rather than at the sharp end. This is reflected in a diminished number of members gaining instructor qualifications, and fewer of you with those qualifications coming forwards to instruct on our AMA meets. Can I please make a plea for this year and moving forwards that as many of you as possible take the experience that you gain through the Association, and try to put it back in by offering your services to instruct for at least a couple of days when you can in your chosen disciplines of rock, alpine, competition or ski mountaineering? Then go and climb as equals, and let’s see AMA members knocking off all sorts of routes and objectives, by themselves for themselves!
There are some great projects that are gathering momentum to look forward to. James Annear’s expedition to Mt Logan 2025 is already well founded, and there will be an alpine training meet this summer in order to prepare for this. Partly for some of the reasons I have elaborated above, the Army
and AMA has stepped back from its turn to mount the quadrennial tri-service British Services Mountaineering Expedition that had been slated for 2026. Instead, we have decided to take this opportunity to go “retro” and propose ‘Project 4000.’ This project has the aim of completing the ascents of all of the Alps’ 82x 4000 metre peaks in one season in 2026! Very many of you will therefore have the opportunity to get stuck into alpine climbing as this centrally-co- ordinated expedition gathers momentum. We will of course invite comrades from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force to participate and in giving alpinism a boost, it is hoped that we will generate a strong cohort of climbers from which to select teams for the next BSME – which will be in 2028, back in synch after the delays caused to the last expedition – Broad Peak – due to the pandemic.
The exciting news is that the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Mountaineering Club have proposed Rakaposhi in the Karakoram as the objective for 2028! This peak of 7788m was first climbed 64 years ago by Royal Marine officer Mike Banks and Royal Navy medical officer Tom Patey – both of whom subsequently became household names in mountaineering. This peak is remote, very high and has a huge prominence (its independent height above its base) – exactly what an objective for Service mountaineering ought to be! It is very fitting that the seventieth anniversary of its first ascent will coincide with BSME 2028. There is huge work to be done in order to get to the start line, but this will truly be a ‘Joint’ responsibility. It is expected that the work-up will generate other Alpine and Greater Ranges opportunities in order to train and hone skills – so watch this space and get ready to sign up!
So, after commencing my chairman’s foreword on a cautionary note regarding financial pressures and constraints, I wish
ARMY MOUNTAINEER / 5